


Blood Makes You Related (Love and Loyalty Makes You Family)

by MYuzuki



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Character Study, Dysfunctional Family, Family Drama, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rogue Trevelyan - Freeform, Sort Of, Team Bonding, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21708463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Maxwell has always felt slightly out of sync with his family. The youngest of the esteemed Trevelyan lineage, he's been pressured since birth to obey, to conform, to sacrifice his desires for what others tell him is the greater good.Wanting to chart his own course in life has set him apart from his family, from his pious and politically savvy parents, and from his siblings who have never hesitated to do what was expected of them.Being declared the Herald of Andraste only serves to complicate an already complicated situation, so when Josephine asks the seemingly innocent question of "Should we approach your family for their formal support of the Inquisition?", Maxwell isn't entirely sure what to say.





	Blood Makes You Related (Love and Loyalty Makes You Family)

Maxwell doesn't see the question coming; it's not at all what he'd anticipated, returning to Haven after a sojourn into the Hinterlands to collect some elfroot for Mother Giselle's healers. All he's thinking about is dropping off the elfroot, and then paying a visit to Minaeve to find out if she's made any progress researching Arcane Horrors thanks to the tattered rags they'd brought to her a few days previously.

He doesn't think anything of it when Josephine asks for a moment of his time once he's done speaking with Minaeve; he's had a few casual chats with Josephine before, mostly simple conversations about various Inquisition-related subjects.

(He's fairly certain that if he'd known in advance about what she wanted to speak to him about, he'd have never gone into that room in the first place.)

"I'd like to discuss your parents," Josephine says now, and whatever post-mission satisfaction Maxwell had possessed before this moment disappears in a flash, replaced by an icy feeling deep in his gut. "I'd like to dispatch a courier asking the Banns of House Trevelyan to align themselves with us," Josephine goes on, apparently oblivious to his discomfort (not surprising, really; he's had plenty of practice at hiding his messier emotions under a mask of civility, after all). "What are your thoughts? Should we approach your family for their formal support of the Inquisition?"

Maxwell debates the the merits of just fleeing from the room, but in the end he just heaves a small sigh and resigns himself to an exceptionally awkward conversation. "With the Trevelyans, my presence may close more doors than it opens," he admits. "My family and I are…not on the best of terms."

And that's putting it lightly. Of his siblings, he's always been the odd one out and not just because he's the youngest. Unlike his eldest brother (who has the dubious honor of being the official heir, tasked with upholding the Trevelyan name), his Templar sister who dutifully joined the Order at fifteen because that's what was expected of her (that or life as a Chantry cleric, and of the two options she'd chosen the path of a warrior) and his mage brother who didn't so much as argue with their parents when they shipped him off to the Circle because that's what was expected of him, Maxwell has always wanted to chart his own course in life. He wants to live his life on his own terms, and not just lead a life built upon what others expect of him.

His parents have called it rebelliousness and impertinence more times than he can count. _Trevelyans do their duty_ , his father has always said. _We are obligated to serve_ , his mother has always said.

And Maxwell understands duties and obligations. He does.

But he wants to serve the greater good on his own damn terms, and his parents have never been able to accept that. Either he does what is expected of him as a Trevelyan of Ostwick or he's a selfish disgrace to their name.

Getting himself embroiled in this Inquisition business is almost definitely not going to improve him in their eyes.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Josephine says now, and her tone rings with a sincerity he's not entirely accustomed to."I shall not press the matter, but others will."

Maxwell gave another short sigh, more of a huff of frustration than anything. "I'm sure they will," he agrees, tone wry. "We are the seventh most esteemed family in Ostwick, after all. Or is it the eighth?" He shrugs, dismissing the importance of the specifics. "Regardless, I don't think approaching my family is a good idea, at least not right now."

"Can I ask why you feel that way?"

"You mean, ignoring the personal issues that they have with me already?" He struggles to put his worries into words without diving into how he's been the unfavorite of the family since approximately fourteen years of age when he'd first told his father that he didn't want to be a Templar. "They're very pious," he says at last, "with many ties to the Chantry. And since the Chantry is publicly denouncing the Inquisition as a heretical organization, I don't think my family would be willing throw their lot in behind our cause. Maker knows, I'm likely to receive a furious letter from my mother any day now about the audacity of bearing the title 'Herald of Andraste' and how I'm disgracing my ancestors with my heresy. Never mind that it's not something I wanted or asked for," he adds in a low mutter, because he _doesn't_ want this. He's spent the last ten years of his life trying to rebel against others' expectations of what he should do with his life, and now everyone's expecting him to _save the world_.

It would be laughable if it weren't so horrifying.

"...I see," Josephine says, in the tone of someone who does not _entirely_ understand but grasps enough of the situation to know to steer clear (he expects nothing less from an ambassador; social intricacies are their forte, after all). "Well, in that case I will hold off on contacting them. Perhaps after we gain more support we can reconsider the matter."

Maxwell tips his head in acknowledgement. "Perhaps," he agrees. "I mean, if we can ever manage to eek out even a modicum of support from the Chantry, then they'll likely be much more approachable. And if by some miracle they come to actually believe this 'Herald of Andraste' business-" Josephine tactfully doesn't comment on his own tone of disbelief, for which he's grateful "-then I doubt you'll be able to _stop_ them from throwing money at us."

"Something to look forward to, then," Josephine concedes with a small if somewhat sympathetic smile, "if we do reach such a point." She scribbles something down onto a piece of parchment before turning the conversation towards more mundane matters, like their lodgings.

Maxwell is almost painfully grateful for the change of topic, and assures Josephine that his accommodations are perfectly satisfactory before finally excusing himself on the grounds that they both have a slew of other duties to attend to before the day is over.

A letter arrives from Ostwick three days later, addressed to him in his mother's elegant script. He considers opening it and subjecting himself to whatever vitriol it contains, but then Varric knocks on his cabin door, saying something about a card game and team bonding and the next thing he knows he's being hustled down the hill to the tavern, where Solas and Cassandra are already waiting with matching long-suffering expressions.

He doesn't think of the letter again for the rest of the night, and when he returns to his cabin after their game of Wicked Grace his heart feels lighter than it has in years.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I recently started playing DA:I again (playing as a Male Trevelyan for the first time) and something about that dialogue with Josephine made me want to write a little ficlet about Maxwell and his family. I might do more little ficlets/additional chapters in the future if inspiration strikes (I’m a sucker for the Team as Family trope, after all, and there’s plenty of room to further address Max’s issues with his birth family as well) but for now I’m leaving this as a stand-alone story. Hope you enjoyed it!


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